Anastasia Vila’s family can turn into swans, but just once she’d like them to turn into responsible adults.

After hundreds of years, they still cling to the blood feud with the Renard family. No one remembers how it started in the first place—but foxes and swans just don’t get along.

Vilas can only transform into their swan shape after they have fallen in love for the first time, but between balancing schoolwork, family obligations, and the escalating blood feud, Ana’s got no time for love. The only thing keeping her sane is her best friend, Pierce Kent.

But when Pierce kisses Ana, everything changes.

Is what Pierce feels for her real, or a byproduct of her magic? Can she risk everything for her best friend? And when the family feud spirals out of control, Ana must stop the fight before it takes away everything she loves.

Including, maybe...Pierce.

This Entangled Teen Crave book contains language, violence, and lots of kissing. Warning: it might induce strong feelings of undeniable attraction for your best friend.

I was surprised when I saw that Love Me, Love Me Not is just two hundred pages. Not because it feels long (or too long) but because it felt like a full, novel length story.

Love Me, Love Me Not is a 'YA Fantasy/Fairytale retelling of The Swan Maiden with a blood feud twist like Romeo & Juliet,' which sounded like a lot of fun to me even though I know next to nothing about The Swan Maiden story. (Of course, I do need to admit that because of who the author was the description could have just been, 'It's about something," and I would have wanted to read it.)

What I ended up really loving about Love Me, Love Me Not was that there really was a nice mix of Ana's family, the swan girls and the rules and mythos about them; the 'blood feud' between the Vilas and the Renards; and Ana's hopes to fall in love.

At first, I had wanted Pierce, or whomever it was that would be Ana's potential love interest, to be part of the Renard family. I am so, so happy that was not the case. The animosity between the Vila family and the Renard family is serious - it's bloody and death filled and spiteful. And it makes the story better.

Especially next to how fed up with it Ana can be.

I liked that the girls had to fall in love before they could turn into swans. Through the different members of Ana's family - and even Ana herself - we see the myriad of ways how falling in love, not falling in love and all of the missteps, attempts and confusion impact a life.

I loved Ana's character and her desire to just finish high school, but to still be loyal to her family and honor them and her magic . . . even if they are difficult and frustrating and troublesome.

I also really loved Pierce - him giving his dog a 'why' for something would have been enough but add in his honesty, his crazy grandmother, his concern for his brothers, his love of books, how he felt about Ana and how he dealt with it and he's brilliant.

Love Me, Love Me Not is a fun fantasy tale of friendship, love, identity, family (both the good and the bad), oh, and that blood feud. All of the characters are fantastic and are characters whose stories I would gladly read.

About the Author:

Alyxandra Harvey lives in a stone Victorian house in Ontario, Canada with a few resident ghosts who are allowed to stay as long as they keep company manners. She loves medieval dresses, used to be able to recite all of The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson, and has been accused, more than once, of being born in the wrong century. She believes this to be mostly true except for the fact that she really likes running water, women’s rights, and ice cream. Aside from the ghosts, she also lives with her husband and their dogs. She likes cinnamon lattes, tattoos and books.

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Guest Post:

Book Sp(l)ot: You have created some brilliant friendships in your novels, is there a character () that you would most want as a friend?'

Alyxandra Harvey: I would love to hang out with Ana from Love Me, Love Me Not because she’s so grounded and wry. And she could clear the rainclouds away—but just over my head. I love rain, I’m just very cat-like in my dislike of getting drenched.

I’d also like to hang out with Lucy from The Drake Chronicles because she’s so irreverent and irrepressible. Also, she’s always around the very yummy Drake brothers.

She’s a magnet for trouble though, so I might need to bring some muscle with me. ;)

From the literary world at large, I’d love to make friends with Anne of Green Gables for her humour and courage. I’ve been to Green Gables in P.E.I. and it was just so lovely. The red clay and the sea and the farmhouse all tucked away.

1 comment:

"...because of who the author was the description could have just been, 'It's about something," and I would have wanted to read it." I think we all have authors like that! I loved the Swan Maiden story and am psyched about a quick, full-bodied read that has all the profound blood-feudy goodness and conflict an adventure like this should have!

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